Source: Associated Press
Government officials say the colors in the U.S. terror alert system will be gone by April 27. The officials say the Homeland Security Department will begin a 90-day phasing out of the system on Thursday.

Source: CBS

A young Asian man on a Canada bound flight from China disguised himself as an elderly Caucasian man to sneak past airline security. Secretary of homeland security Janet Napolitano claims that terrorists could potentially use this same tactic. Nancy Cordes reports.

Source: bbc

A security alert is under way in both the UK and the US after reports of a suspicious cargo package at a British airport.

Maybe I’m being cynical, but something about this just doesn’t sound right. U.S. Border security officials are now saying they learned of the airline bomber’s terror ties after he was already in the air heading for the U.S. They were planning to question him once he landed in Detroit.

U.S. border security officials learned of intelligence about the alleged extremist links of the suspect in the Christmas Day airline bombing attempt as he was en route to Detroit and had decided to question him when he landed, officials said in new disclosures today.

"The people in Detroit were prepared to look at him in secondary inspection," said a senior law enforcement official who requested anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. "The decision had been made. The . . . database had picked up the State Department concern about this guy, that this guy may have been involved with extremist elements in Yemen. . . . They could have made a decision on whether to stop him from getting on the plane."

Just a couple of days after President Obama criticized the intelligence community for it’s failure to connect the dots we hear this story? Like I said, maybe I’m being too cynical but this sounds like a heaping helping of CYA to me.

They really did connect the dots, honest! They were a little slow so he was able to get airborne, but you can bet your sweet bippy he was going to br questioned once he landed! Seriously, he really was!

Yeah, right. This sounds like typical bureaucratic BS to me.

Right on the heels of their last blunder with domestic “extremism,” DHS has released a “lexicon” cataloguing terms to be listened for that might indicate someone is an “extremist” (meaning, conservative or republican).

To be fair, a lot of the terms listed are reasonable and legitimate. It’s the small things that tell you that a partisan lefty is behind it.

For instance, you’re considered an “anti-immigration extremist” if you oppose the government issuing driver’s licenses to illegal aliens, providing in-state tuition, medical benefits, and a free public education.

You’re a “rightwing extremist” if you reject federal authority in favor of state and local authority.

What is strangely absent from the document is any mention whatsoever of Islamic extremism. I would think in this post 9/11 world we live in that would have been at the top of the list, but sadly that would be too politically incorrect.

Which is why the entire document is phony and the motivations behind it are phony. When the biggest threat to America is not even mentioned, but people opposed to illegal immigration are — it’s obvious what this is all about.

-Chris Jones

Former vice-president Dick Cheney is speaking out forcefully against Obama’s soft approach to national security. He says closing Gitmo is foolish and warns that a WMD attack on America is highly probable if our intelligence agencies lose the tools that have kept us safe for seven years.

“When we get people who are more concerned about reading the rights to an Al Qaeda terrorist than they are with protecting the United States against people who are absolutely committed to do anything they can to kill Americans, then I worry,” Cheney said.

Protecting the country’s security is “a tough, mean, dirty, nasty business,” he said. “These are evil people. And we’re not going to win this fight by turning the other cheek.”

Cheney was interviewed by Politico for nearly 90 minutes and the resulting article makes for a fascinating read. I think the former VP is right on the money with his observations about the Obama administration. The fact is, whether you approve of them or not, the Bush/Cheney policies have kept us safe for more than seven years. Rolling back a system that’s working to a system that has failed in the past is not only absurd — it’s dangerous.

All this nonsense about “restoring America’s image in the world” is a bunch of liberal, peacenik, pinko crap. The only people who care about that shit are left-wing apologists who think we can make friends with the terrorists if we just try.

We are at war with radical f*cking Islam and our enemies play for keeps. This is no joke and it looks like a lot more Americans are gonna have to die before we realize this.

-Chris Jones

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Fran Townsend, the leading White House-based terrorism advisor who gave public updates on the extent of the threat to U.S. security, is stepping down after 4-1/2 years.

Her departure continues an exodus of key Bush aides and confidants, with his two-term presidency in the final 15 months. Top aide Karl Rove, along with press secretary Tony Snow and senior presidential advisor Dan Bartlett, left earlier this year.

Bush in his statement early today noted that Townsend had served in the position for more than 4-1/2 years.

“Fran always has provided wise counsel on how best to protect the American people from the threat of terrorism,” the president said. “She has been a steady leader in the effort to prevent and disrupt attacks and to better respond to natural disasters.”

In her resignation to Bush, Townsend indicated she was ready to take a break from public service and return to the private sector.